Cursed Heir
by kuro-yumi
Summary: She was deemed a cursed child and run out of her clan. But she found her ancestor and fell in love with a boy. He hated her. Always did, always will. She doesn't care. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Too bad she is hunted. Part 1/3
1. Chapter 1

_She ran. She ran and ran and ran._

 _The shouts chased after her. She couldn't stop. They would kill her. Just like they killed her mommy._

 _She was cursed._

 _Daddy wanted to kill her when she was born. That's what mommy said. That's why mommy ran away._

 _But they found her._

 _So she ran. She followed Dignitas._

 _Dignitas was her only friend. He was the only one who helped her._

 _She was cursed._

"So those fools fear my bloodline now," the man mused, hanging upside-down in a glass tube. "It wasn't always like that, you know. They hadn't always feared my blood. In fact, they used to revere it, even if they had to keep it secret."

"Why? If they respected you, then why would they keep their identity a secret? Why did they start hating it?" The little girl asked, curious, her attention on the man even as her hands played with the black cat.

"Aleister Crowley is the name of a famous mage. He advanced magic, was feared and respected. Until he turned to science. That's when other mages started to hunt him," the man continued. "He had a son who disappointed him, so he disowned his boy. He had a daughter, who died young. His bloodline was carried on by his son."

"And?" The girl was impatient.

"When the son was very old, he found out that his father was still alive, and sent his only grandchild with blonde hair to meet his father. For generations, my descendants followed that tradition of sending blonde haired children to me, but only the ones who had my familiar come to them once they were born."

"Familiar?"

"Dignitas, child. Dignitas was my familiar. Even now that he is only a spirit, he continues to remain loyal to me and my blood."

"Oh. Thanks, Dignitas," the girl said, and the cat meowed. "So why are we cursed? Why are we hated?"

"They used to revere me and my bloodline. But the children sent to me were fewer and fewer. There had not been any for many generations. Even then, Dignitas never appeared along with any of them for a long time. I see why, now. They killed off any blonde haired children, and my blood grew weaker in my line," Aleister paused, studying the girl in front of him. "That is why it is strange to find someone with my blood running so strongly in them. You should have no more than a drop of my blood, yet you have many of my features. You have Dignitas with you. You are too much like me to be normal."

The girl pouted. "Why thank you. Now I am cursed _and_ abnormal."

"It may not be a bad thing, child. You are a Crowley, and few people will connect the name with me, as I am not known to have descendants. But those who know about me may still hunt you down. You must grow strong. Strong enough to fight anything, anyone. I will teach you about magic. And you must become an esper."

 _She had blonde hair._

 _They all had dark hair._

 _She belonged to_ him _. She was_ his _blood._ His _Heir._

 _So she had to die._


	2. Chapter 2

_"_ _Hello, mister. You look like me. Were you a cursed child too?"_

"Class, we have a new student today," the teacher said, and turned to the blonde eight year old. "Don't be shy. Say hello."

She wasn't shy at all. She grinned, bouncing a little on her feet. "Hello! I'm Celeste Crowley. I hope we can be friends!"

She was met with smiles, from all but one boy. She cocked her head curiously at him, but he didn't meet her gaze. He only stared out the window, as if transfixed by the scenery outside.

"You can sit next to Mai. Raise your hand, Mai-chan," the teacher said.

Celeste moved to sit next to the girl, and they shared a grin.

Class began. By break, she was practically dying with curiosity.

"Ne, what's your name?" she asked the boy.

No reply.

"Shiro-chan, want to be friends?" She asked, deciding to give him a name if he won't tell her his own.

Without moving his head, he turned his eyes to glare at her. They were red. She sucked in a breath. They were beautiful. Just like his snowy white hair.

But then she felt someone tug on her sleeve. She turned to see a nervous Mai, hurriedly pulling her away. Celeste cocked her head, frowning, but moved away.

"You should stay away from Accelerator-san. He's a level five. He'll kill you if you annoy him," Mai whispered, glancing over occasionally to make sure Accelerator didn't hear her words.

"That's silly," Celeste frowned.

"Trust me! Just stay away from him!"

Celeste blinked at the other girl's vehemence. Then she glanced around the classroom, and wondered how she had never noticed before. Everyone stayed as far from the boy as possible. There was a half circle around him, everyone at least four desks away from the boy. At least halfway across the classroom.

Celeste cast a worried glance at the white haired boy. Didn't he get lonely?

* * *

"You got tested yesterday, right? What did they say? Do you have abilities?" Mai asked, excited for her new friend.

"Yup! They said my ability was called Real Illusion, and I'm a level four!"

"Real Illusion?"

"The ability to make illusions that seem real enough to trick the mind into thinking they are real," Celeste frowned. "I don't get it, though. How could illusions trick the mind? If you know they are illusions, they're illusions."

The girl didn't say that her 'brother' thought they were wrong. She would just go along with what the scientists said. After all, they were smart, right?

Mai shrugged. "Scientists always have their complicated terms and stuff. So since you're free today after schoo—"

But the girl was already gone.

"Ne, Shiro-chan, what's your ability? You're a level five, right? That means you're really strong, right?" Celeste asked, halfway across the room from Mai, right next to Accelerator's desk.

He turned to glare at her, but she grinned back at him, unfazed.

"Celeste!" Mai half screeched, and yanked the girl away. She ignored Celeste's protests.

* * *

"Shiro-chan! You're early. Are you always this early?"

She didn't get a reply, like usual.

"Do you wanna play with me today? You never play. You should play and stop frowning. You'll get wrinkles early," she said wisely. "It's healthy to laugh."

"Shut up and get lost. Didn't they tell you to stay away from me?!" Accelerator finally snapped.

If looks could kill, she would have burnt to a crisp, been drowned, frozen, and stabbed a million times by now.

She stared at him, surprised. He huffed and turned his attention back out the window. Good. Now that she was rightly scared—

"Your voice is so cute!" She squealed. He froze. "Your voice is just as cute as you are! I really really really want to hug and squeeze you. May I?"

"No!"

* * *

The girl was insane, Accelerator decided. Insane and stupid. Very stupid. He would have thought she didn't understand Japanese, if she didn't talk so much. Was it really so hard? 'Stay away'. It was a simple command. Everyone else understood.

So why didn't she?

He glared out the window, where the other children were at recess. The girl named Mai and the annoyance were playing tag with a bunch of others. _She_ was laughing, sticking out her tongue at the chaser. With an angry look, he lunged at her, only for her to dance out of his reach. She stuck her tongue out at him again, and the bell rang. He shouted something at her, and she retorted with that usual annoying grin, and they disappeared, only to reappear in the classroom moments later.

"Shiro-chan! You should play with us next time. You look like you don't have enough muscles!" _She_ called out from across the room.

He didn't deem her worthy of a reply.

She must be blind as well as deaf. None of the others want to be anywhere near him.

The teacher moved to the front of the classroom. "We're switching seats today. Accelerator-san, you can stay in that seat."

Of course. The teacher never dared move him. They were all afraid of him.

"Hi, Shiro-chan! Looks like we're neighbours!" Celeste grinned, waving at him from the seat next to his.

He groaned, letting his head thunk onto his desk.

* * *

"Shiro-chan! You can't just eat bread everyday. That's not healthy! Here. We'll switch," the irritation scolded, pushing her bento towards him.

He glared at her. Get a hint already!

She only smiled at him, the smile as bright as always. He threw the bread in her face and yanked her bento to him. If it would make her shut up…

Her grin only brightened. But at least she was quiet.

* * *

"Shiro-chan!" The girl, now ten years old, shouted, running towards him.

He groaned and walked faster. Why did he let the teacher convince him to go outside for recess?

"Ne, Shiro-chan! Don't ignore me! We're friends, aren't we?" She pouted.

He turned with a snarl. "We are _not_ friends. We have never been friends, and we will never be friends!"

She stopped for a moment. But no hurt look crossed her face. No frightened look crossed her face. "That's fine. How about lovers?"

"NO!"

"Don't say that to someone who loves you," she pouted.

Love? Nobody loves him. He wasn't meant to be loved. He would never be loved.

"Tch. Yeah right. Nobody loves me."

Her eyes widened. "Don't say that! Everybody can be loved!"

"Don't lie!" Accelerator snarled.

His hand flashed out. Shock crossed her features for a brief moment as she was sent flying back, her hair whipping over her face, until she crashed.

A sickening crack silenced the schoolyard. And it wasn't the tree.

The girl crumpled at the base of the tree, and he saw a trail of blood run from her nose and mouth. And a bigger trail run over her neck, pooling on the dirt. His eyes widened. He… Again… No!

"Sensei!" Mai screamed.

The teacher came running out, and everything was a blur. The ambulance came and took her away, performing emergency procedures the whole time.

She didn't return to school the next day, or the next.

The entire class completely avoided him, remaining silent in his presence. He felt their fear grow, and he didn't care. It was better this way. Even when _she_ returned—he ignored the voice in his head that said she may never return—she would be afraid of him. She would never talk to him again. He didn't care. It was better this way.

She did return. He felt his shoulders lighten, knowing he didn't kill her. She glanced his way, then quickly looked away, silent. Something in his heart clenched, but he ignored it. It was better this way.

A week later, she approached him nervously when he was alone, wringing her hands. He ignored her. She would go away. She was scared of him now, just like everyone else. He didn't need love. He didn't need friends.

"Shi… Accelerator-kun," she began, voice soft.

What happened to 'Shiro-chan'?

"I'm sorry!" She shouted suddenly, bowing. "Because of me everyone's even more scared of you even though you're so cute and kind, and it'll be even harder to make friends and… and…"

He stared at her in surprise. She was avoiding him because of that? Not because she was scared? "Hah?"

"You're not mad?" She glanced up hopefully. "Then can we still be friends?"

"Tch. Whatever."

"Yatta! Ne, can you let down your guard for a second?"

"Hah? Why should I?"

"Please?" She used her puppy eyes.

He felt his heart skip a beat. He ignored it. It was probably the heat. Huffing, he stopped using his powers completely. He wasn't prepared for what she did.

Her arms around his neck, she pulled herself close to him in a hug. "Even if everybody else hates you, even if nobody else in the world loves you, I will. Okay? I'll always be your friend, and I'll always love you."

He felt his heart going haywire, and made a mental note to go to the doctor and get it checked. And he made sure never to use his powers on her again.

* * *

"Stop! I don't care! I like Shiro-chan! You can ignore me or bully me all you want, but I'll still like Shiro-chan!" Celeste yelled, fists clenched at her sides.

"Monster! He's a monster, and you're a monster for liking him!" A boy threw a rock, and missed.

"Shiro-chan's not a monster!" Celeste screamed.

"Come on. Leave her alone," Mai muttered, not meeting her former friend's gaze.

After that they ignored her. Not one of them spoke to her again.

"Oi," Accelerator said, gaining the girl's attention. "Are you…"

"I'm fine! I still have Shiro-chan!" She smiled brightly.

"Tch."

* * *

They were thirteen. He had gone to a special class three years ago, after he had destroyed the military that came after him, and she was in Tokiwadai. But somehow she always found him, always stuck with him. No matter how many times he told her to leave him alone.

"Shiro-chan, if I disappeared, would you be sad?"

He stared at her. Where did that stupid bright smile go?

But he looked away. He lied. "No."

 _"_ _I'll just call you onii-chan. It's too troublesome to call you great-great-great-great times who knows how many great's grandfather, don't you think? Besides, you don't look that old."_


	3. Chapter 3

_"_ _My wish? Of course it comes true! I wish really really hard, don't I?"_

Last Order sniffled. Accelerator had saved her, again. And he had gotten hurt because of her, again. Why couldn't she do anything? If she was stronger, she could help him. At least she could protect herself. She couldn't even do anything for him now!

He couldn't use his powers properly anymore, and it was her fault!

"Hey, kid, you okay?" A female voice asked.

It was then that Last Order noticed a shadow fall over her. She glanced up. A pretty girl, with purple highlights at the ends of her blonde hair, leaned over her. A concerned look sat on the older girl's face.

Last Order leaned back, studying the girl, then leaned further away. She looked like a delinquent. Highlights, a black choker, chains, dark clothes, short skirt, black boots, black fingerless gloves… It was the type of person the information implanted into her head at birth said she should stay away from.

"I'm fine, says Misaka Misaka. I don't need a delinquent's help, Misaka Misaka says fearfully."

The girl blinked in surprise. "But you're not okay, or you won't be crying."

"Misaka Misaka is not crying!"

To her surprise, the girl laughed. "You're cute. You remind me of Railgun. Are you her clone?"

Last Order jolted, glaring at the girl suspiciously. "You shouldn't know anything about that, Misaka Misaka says suspiciously."

She shrugged. "I have connections. And I know how to hack."

"Aha! So you are not a good person, Misaka Misaka says confidently."

"I never said I was," the girl said, amused. "But I'm not a bad person either. So? What's the problem? You lost?"

"No! Misaka Misaka says. Anyways there's nothing someone like you can do, Misaka Misaka says sadly."

"Tsk. Didn't you know? If you wish for something really hard, it will come true," the girl said with a knowing smile.

Last Order paused. "Really?"

"Sure. God will grant wishes if you really wish hard."

"But God won't grant his wish. God can't heal him."

The girl blinked. "God won't help bad people. Is 'he' a bad person?"

"Accelerator isn't bad! He did bad things, but it wasn't his fault! He's not a bad person, he's not! Misaka Misaka insists!"

The girl laughed again, and Last Order pouted.

"Ah, you're too cute. Tell you what. If God won't grant the wish, then how about I grant it?"

Last Order blinked. "You grant wishes? Misaka Misaka queries questioningly."

"I can."

"Prove it! Misaka Misaka demands. I want a giant hamburger, Misaka Misaka says."

"There's a giant hamburger on the bench next to you. You should get it before that cat does," the girl shrugged.

Last Order glanced over, and dove, grabbing the burger triumphantly while the cat ran away, scared. Then she turned excitedly to the girl.

"You can grant wishes! Misaka Misaka says happily."

"So you want me to heal Accelerator…"

"Yes, Misaka Misaka says with her mouth full."

"Sure. Why not. It would be a nice souvenir for Shiro-chan..."

"I'll take you to him, Misaka Misaka says, trying to cram the delicious burger into her mouth."

"No need. I'll find him. Or he'll find me. Either way, we'll meet again."

Last Order blinked, and the girl was gone. As if she had never been there. Only the burger crumbs on her clothes told her that it was not a dream. The wish granting girl really did exist.

And with that knowledge, she ran home.

"Accelerator! Accelerator! Misaka Misaka impatiently yells."

"Stop pounding on the door, brat," Accelerator growls, yanking the door open before returning to his spot, lying on the couch.

"Accelerator, I met a really cool person today, Misaka Misaka says excitedly. She looks like a delinquent, but she's a really cool person! She can heal you!"

"Hah? You were dreaming."

"I wasn't! I wasn't dreaming, Misaka Misaka insists!"

"I don't believe in that stuff. Go tell someone else, brat."

Pouting, Last Order yanked Accelerator's wrist. Eyes widening in surprise, he tumbled to the floor, groaning. His red eyes opened and glared at the young clone.

"You have three seconds to run," Accelerator growled.

Last Order's heart started beating faster, but she stubbornly stood her ground. "Misaka Misaka says no! She can heal you! She said so!"

"And what exactly did this quack say?!" Accelerator would have to find the woman and kill her, slowly, for making Last Order annoy him with her stupid hopes.

"Misaka Misaka says she's not a quack! She proved it!"

Accelerator sighed. "Miracles don't happen, brat."

"Didn't you know? If you wish for something really hard, it will come true, Misaka Misaka tells a disbelieving Accelerator."

Accelerator's eyes widened, and with a snarl, he shoved Last Order to the ground and hovered over her, hands at her throat. Last Order stared up at him, eyes wide with surprise and a hint of fear.

 _"_ _Ne, Shiro-chan, didn't you know? If you wish for something really hard, it will come true," the annoyance said, grinning._

 _"_ _Hah? Yeah right."_

 _"_ _It does!" She pouted._

 _"_ _Then what do you wish for?"_

"Never, _never_ say that in front of me again. Wishes do _not_ come true, no matter how hard you wish!"

"B-but Misaka Misaka—"

"Never," Accelerator growled.

"But Misaka Misaka knows it's true!"

"Listen, brat. I wished for something once. It didn't come true. Wishes _don't_ come true!"

"What did you wish for, Misaka Misaka asks curiously."

Accelerator remained silent for a moment. He decided it was safe to tell her. "She never came back."

Last Order blinked. Who? She thought Accelerator had never had any friends. He said he never had any friends. She thought hard. There was a long silence.

"So? Who was she, brat? I'm going to kill her for giving you ideas."

"Misaka Misaka remembers that she had blonde hair and highlights. And purple eyes. And she looked like a delinquent…"

"Hah? That's it? That's a lot of people!" Accelerator glared incredulously at the child.

"Misaka Misaka is thinking very hard. Misaka Misaka also recalls that she said 'it would make a nice souvenir for Shiro-chan'."

"Hn," Accelerator said, uninterested, then shot up, eyes wide. "Say that again."

"Huh? Misaka Misaka repeats, Misaka Misaka is thinking very hard. Misaka Misaka also recalls that she said 'it would make a nice souvenir for Shiro-chan'."

"Are you sure? She said Shiro-chan?" Accelerator demanded.

"Misaka Misaka is sure."

Without a word, Accelerator was out the door, slamming it shut behind him. It couldn't be. She couldn't be back. She disappeared three years ago. It couldn't be her. It had to be someone else.

But he couldn't stop his heart from pounding in his chest, couldn't stop the hope from rising up.

Even though he crushed it down.

 _"_ _My wish has always been only one thing, silly. It's to see Shiro-chan again!"_


	4. Chapter 4

_"_ _I don't care if you leave. I hate you. You're annoying."_

He was running. He didn't know why he was running, since it wouldn't help him find her any faster. But from the moment he left the apartment, ignoring Last Order's calls of surprise and concern, his legs were pumping, carrying him through the night.

It couldn't be her. It couldn't. She disappeared three years ago.

So much for loving him.

If he had said 'yes' all those years ago, would she still have left?

"Tch. Kusotare," he panted, slowing to a walk.

He didn't run often. He never needed to. But this was pathetic. Not even ten minutes and his legs were burning, his lungs desperate for air.

Accelerator kept walking, searching through the night for the blonde. Even though he probably wouldn't find her. Even though she was probably inside somewhere. Even though it was probably someone else.

But he couldn't help but think it was her. Who else would say that ridiculous line? Who else would have the guts to call him 'Shiro-chan'?

"Ara? When I heard you got injured, I thought I could take your rank, but you look pretty fine to me, number one," Celeste said, hanging upside-down from a lamppost, hands in her jacket pocket. She smirked a little at the double meaning of her words.

Accelerator's heart skipped a beat at the familiar voice, a little deeper from age, and so long unheard. But he looked up with an irritated face.

"You're back," he growled.

She smirked and swung, back-flipping and landing almost on top of him, missing by inches. He didn't move.

"Missed me?"

"Tch. I didn't even notice you were gone," he lied.

She hummed. Her eyes traveled down to the electron choker, and a hand reached out to poke it.

"Oi! What the hell!" Accelerator snarled, slapping her hand away.

Her eyes saddened for a moment, but it disappeared, replaced by a bored frown and a lazy smirk. "I could touch you. So you did get weaker. The normal you would have reflected me."

"Tch."

He didn't look at her. She knew him as the powerful number one, unmatched by anyone. And now? He was pathetic. Beaten by a mere level 0 and reduced to relying on external sources to use his abilities.

He never wanted her to see him like this.

Anyone but her.

"I could undo the damage, you know," she said, leaning back against the railing.

Accelerator blinked in shock. "Hah? What could a level 4 illusion do?!"

She laughed. "You really think those idiots got my ability right? Real Illusion… What a joke. I'm a level five. And my ability is to make anything I imagine real."

"So? Same thing." He was irritated. Did she really have to go and make him raise his hopes like that?

"I thought you were smart? Or did the brain damage undo all that? I don't make illusions. I alter reality." She was as annoying as before.

Accelerator raised an eyebrow, both at the insult and at her ability.

"I'm Titania, the Fairy Queen Celeste Crowley. And if you ranked all the ability users in the city by power, I would be number three, and you would be number two, Shiro-chan."

Accelerator's brows shot up, then as quickly returned to their original position. What made her think she was number three? The scientists ranked her a level four, but that was years ago. And if they really did get her ability wrong… Well, for all their research and degrees, they were idiots most of the time.

"I'm number two?! Hah, give me a break," Accelerator scoffed.

"Unless you would disagree with number one?" She raised an eyebrow. "Kamijou Touma, Imagine Breaker."

The moment Accelerator heard that name, he stiffened and growled.

"Even if you don't like it, you can't deny it after losing to him," she said, offhandedly.

With that, he snarled at her, hand reaching up to the collar. How the _hell_ did she know that?!

She shook her head, tsking at him. "You shouldn't attack someone who could give you back your power."

"Hah?!"

A smirk on her lips, she sauntered closer, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning in to whisper in his ear, "I am level 5, and my ability _is_ to make anything I imagine into reality. For example, I could say _Accelerator's physical damage is completely healed_."

"Get away from—" Accelerator stopped, suddenly having sent the girl flying. "What did you—"

"See? Reality Warp," The girl stood up calmly, smirking and brushing herself off.

"I don't owe you anything," Accelerator growled.

She shrugged. "You should keep that choker on. Even if you can freely use your abilities again, it's better if you pretend you can't."

"Why should I listen to you," Accelerator demanded.

"You don't want to be a guinea pig again, right? And this way you could do whatever you want without the researchers hanging over you," she said nonchalantly.

"I still don't owe you anything," Accelerator repeated, suspicious of the girl.

She shrugged again. "I didn't ask you to. I just did that 'cuz I like you. I told you I loved you years ago. It didn't change. Or do you still not believe me?"

Then her eyes lit up. Sauntering towards him, a glint in her eyes and a mischievous smirk on her lips, she said, "Turn off your Vector Change for a second."

"Hah?"

"Just do it. Consider it payment for repairing you."

"Tch," he switched off his ability just as she stood in front of him.

Unconsciously his mind returned to the last time she had asked something like this of him, and half hoped it would be something similar. The other half hoped she wouldn't touch him. But her pale hand reached out and cupped his cheek. He had no time to register her touch before her lips touched his, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away.

"I told you this before too, right? If you wish for something really hard, it will come true. And my wish is always to see you again, Shiro-chan," She smiled at his flustered expression. "See you around."

 _But those are lies. Even if I will never tell anyone, my only wish was also to see you again._


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you luissz and Subtility for the follow/fav!

luissz: Thanks! I hope I'll live up to your expectations.

PS (Guest): Hmm... I do think Accelerator was too cocky and got careless, but Imagine Breaker can defeat any supernatural power. Limitlessly. Normal espers and magicians get tired and become unable to use their power, but Touma isn't like that. Probably because he isn't an esper, but still. I guess I ranked them like that partly because Touma defeated so many supernatural power users in impossible situations, and partly to piss Accelerator of ^_^

Guest: Yeah. I agree too. I really hate it when characters' abilities seem to cheat. I always start tuning out whenever I see something like 'character can control all the elements' or something like that. Don't worry. I did make sure she had weaknesses/limitations. I was going to let the story reveal them a little at a time, but after reading your review, I looked back at my character outline and realized that some of the flaws are subtle. And since this isn't Lit class, nobody really wants to play 'analyze the character by picking out clues from the text'. So I'll outline Celeste's ability. She wasn't lying when she told Accelerator that he was stronger than her.

Reality Warp: the ability to turn whatever Celeste imagines into reality.

First off, you may have noticed, but she has to say something out loud for her ability to activate. This relates to philosophy: if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there, did the tree make a sound? Basically reality is just a creation of the brain, and it wouldn't exist if nobody was there to observe it. If Celeste's senses were somehow destroyed or rendered unusable, and someone shut off sound so nobody could hear her, then she can't do anything.

Note, she cannot affect personal reality. Only the general reality. Meaning she cannot directly affect someone's abilities. If Railgun sent electricity at her, she could create a lightning rod and divert the energy, but she cannot make it disappear or anything like that. If Accelerator touched her, he could kill her by reversing her blood flow and she could do nothing about it. She also cannot say something like 'that person no longer has his/her ability'. Technically she could damage someone's brain and destroy them that way, but she cannot directly affect their abilities.

Second, can you imagine how much concentration needed to warp reality? When distracted or in pain, or if an enemy doesn't give her enough time, she basically cannot use her ability.

Third, nothing comes for free. Everything is equivalent exchange. That's why she doesn't use it for everything. If she makes it so she has a billion dollars, that money would have to come from somewhere. If she wants to bring someone back to life, she will need a living human sacrifice.

Finally, like all espers, once they get tired, or overuse their abilities in one place, they're done. Kind of similar to the way Accelerator couldn't use his Vector Change while trying to heal Last Order.

I hope that clarifies?

* * *

 _"You can tell me that you hate me, that you want me to disappear as many times as you want. I'll always come back, because I know it's a lie."_

 _BANG! THUNK! SCREEEEECH! BANGBANGBANG!_

Accelerator groaned, opening one eye. It was the middle of the night. And some _idiot_ was making an infernal racket right outside his door! He wondered if he should just tune them out with his ability or go and slaughter them for disturbing his sleep.

"Accelerator, Misaka Misaka cries out fearfully!"

Aaaand the damned brat comes.

Accelerator flipped over, pulling the pillow over his head, hoping that if he shut out everything, everything would disappear.

No such luck. Last Order bounced on his bed, over and over and over, whining his name with each bounce. Red eyes peeked out from under the pillow to glare at the girl, too active for this hour.

"Isitafight? Huhhuhhuh? Dangerousoutside? Shouldwegocheck? MisakaMisakaasksexcitedly."

The brat spoke too damned fast for him to understand anything except her name. But she was _grinning_ and _bouncing_ and _shouting his name every damned second_. He was ready to strangle her, and then go outside and bathe in the blood of the person making his night hell.

"Get lost. Go back to sleep," he groaned, voice muffled by his pillow.

"Accelerator! Misaka Misaka whines."

He rolled his eyes. He won't be getting anymore sleep tonight. The brat was awake and hyper, and it took awhile to get rid of bloodstains. Not off himself, of course. He always reflected the coppery liquid away. But the brat would definitely get herself messy somehow.

Huffing angrily, he rolled off the bed. Running a hand through white hair, he stormed out of the apartment, a cheerful Last Order in tow… and froze.

 _Her_.

"Shiro-chan~!" A happy voice yelled.

 _She_ ran towards him. Accelerator braced himself. It had become a habit to turn his ability off whenever she was near him, ever since he had hurt her so many years ago, even if he felt like turning her voice off or something. Then he would have to consciously and purposely turn his ability back on. Two nights ago, when _She_ healed him, he had used it by accident. He hadn't hurt _Her_ that time, but apparently his subconscious mind won't let him take chances. Grinning, _She_ spread her arms open and leapt onto him, arms wrapping around his neck.

Did he mention that once _She_ found out that he no longer kept his shield up, _She_ touched him whenever _She_ got the chance?

Accelerator stumbled back a few steps at the sudden weight. He glared at _Her_ , ignoring the accelerated pace of his heart at _Her_ nearness.

 _She_ smelled like sweat and oranges.

"Ah! You're the wish granting onee-chan from before, Misaka Misaka exclaims in recognition!" Last Order's smile widened as she pointed exuberantly at the newcomer. "Thank you for granting my wish!"

"No problem, kid," _She_ grinned back, before turning to the white haired boy still in her arms. "Ne, ne, Shiro-chan. You live here?"

"Obviously," he spat.

"Great! Then we'll be neighbours!" _She_ said cheerfully.

Good. Bad. His mind thought both simultaneously. He would be able to see _Her_ every day, just like before. But… he would be able to see _Her_ every day. Just like before.

He never did get his heart checked by a doctor.

But he was older now. He had an inkling as to what the symptoms meant. The stupid fluttering in his stomach, the feeling of getting a heart attack, the sudden inability to breathe…

Still. He refused to think he would have even the remote chance of developing even the smallest milligram of feelings towards the annoyance.

" _You_ were the one making all that noise?!" Accelerator demanded, then muttered, "Should have known… And let go of me already…"

 _She_ laughed sheepishly, backing off. It was then that he saw the mountain of boxes piled in the hallway, blocking the path. His brow twitched, and he opened his mouth to let out a string of curses.

"Shiro-chan! Don't swear in front of children!" _She_ mock reprimanded, the amusement dancing in _Her_ eyes giving _Her_ away.

" 'Children' is right," he growled. "There are two of you driving me insane!"

 _She_ pouted. Last Order mimicked the expression. Accelerator looked from one face to another and groaned.

"Accelerator! Let's help her move! Misaka Misaka exclaims, coming up with the brilliant idea."

" _No_ ," Accelerator growled vehemently.

But somehow he ended up lugging in boxes one by one, muttering curses under his breath the entire time. _She_ was unpacking, arranging everything and making the empty apartment liveable. When they were finally done, all of Accelerator's muscles were sore, and he was _sure_ he wouldn't be able to move tomorrow. He heaved a sigh, collapsing on _Her_ couch while _She_ was in the kitchen preparing tea.

He had wondered why a girl would need so many things, especially a girl like _Her_ , but it was almost all furniture. He was actually a little surprised at the lack of personal items, considering that he knew most girls had lots of things. Hell, boys did too. The things were just different.

He glanced around the newly furnished apartment. There were no clues as to where _She_ had disappeared to for the last few years. And while he wanted to know, he wasn't curious enough to actually ask _Her_.

"So… Misaka Misaka asks, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. Do you know each other?" Last Order asked the moment _She_ came out and served the tea and biscuits.

"Yup! Accelerator is my love!" _She_ grinned.

Accelerator only scoffed.

"Accelerator! You never told me you had a girlfriend! Misaka Misaka exclaims sadly."

"Celeste is _not_ my girlfriend!" Accelerator snarled.

Silence. He glanced up at the blonde's face, to see shock written all over it. He felt something tug inside him. Maybe that was a little harsh—no. It was fine. She wasn't his girlfriend. It was only the truth. Last Order followed his gaze. But before the young clone could scold Accelerator for hurting Celeste's feelings, the shocked expression transformed into a large smile, the teen's eyes radiating with happiness.

Accelerator was taken aback. What just happened?

"You remember my name! You know my name, you remember my name, you said my name!" Celeste said all in one breath, giddy from joy.

"Hah? Isn't that obvious?" Accelerator asked, irritated.

"But you've never called my name before! I thought you didn't remember or didn't bother to learn it!" Celeste was smiling so hard it seemed like her face would split.

Accelerator scoffed. All this over a name.

But it was nice to see her smile only for him, only at him.

And chickens will fly before he admitted it to her. Or to anybody else, for that matter.

 _"I know it's a lie. I know for sure. Because if you really hated me, really wanted me out of your life, you would kill me.'_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Altreid and DarkKing1, thanks for the follow and fave!

Altreid: I actually really like reviewers like you. You keep me on my toes and make sure I don't turn my character into someone boring, and make sure I remember details I might usually forget. So thanks! I hope I won't betray your expectations. As for the price she pays for healing Accelerator, other than draining almost all her energy, what she exchanged will be revealed later. I had to do research about the brain damage Accelerator received, and have worked out the specifics of her sacrifice.

I don't like this chapter much. It didn't turn out good... But I'm probably biased because Accelerator doesn't appear in this chapter. But I hope you enjoy.

 _"Onii-chan, I'll ask you very very calmly. What the_ fuck _did you do to_ my _Accelerator?!"_

"Hello, Cel. It has been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Onii-chan," Celeste greeted, glaring mildly up at the man upside-down in a tube.

"You come back after three years and glare at me? And I know you have been back for several days. Why haven't you come visit?"

She remained quiet, debating whether to tell him. Accelerator was Aleister's toy, just as the rest of Academy City was. Even _she_ was probably one of his pawns, considering that he called her his 'heir'.

As if he would die and require an heir. He would probably outlive her and several future generations.

"You did something," Aleister realized, frowning, thinking. The only reason she wouldn't immediately report to him was… It hit him. "Accelerator. You healed him, didn't you."

Her silence gave him all the answer he needed. He had made the Windowless Building so no normal teleporter could enter, and even then there were many traps to bypass. It took her more than a little energy to go in and out. Usually not enough to affect her, but too much when she had used her ability on something big. If she had healed Accelerator, it would have taken enough energy to keep her from being able to use her ability for several days. And if she had fully healed him… He didn't even want to ask what price she paid.

If the law of equivalent exchange didn't limit her ability, he would have used it long ago for himself.

He sighed. All his other descendants, the ones he had called his heirs, had feared him and respected him. And while each generation had become increasingly reluctant, they all obeyed him because they acknowledged his superiority.

Celeste was different.

She reminded him of himself when he was younger. Brilliant, passionate, willing to make sacrifices. Also frustratingly stubborn and mulish. She disobeyed him whenever she wanted, treated him like a normal older brother.

His son had been like her too. The boy had reminded him of himself, yet lacked his sensibility and talent. He had disowned his son because the boy had had no gift except the ability to infuriate him.

Aleister liked to think he had grown wiser over the years. That was why he put up with her.

But, he sometimes thought, he didn't so much as 'put up' with the girl as he did enjoy her company and find her amusing.

Now if only she didn't have that vexing crush on Accelerator…

Accelerator was the Black King on his chessboard, one out of several kings. Kamijou Touma was the White King, but that was irrelevant. What _was_ relevant was that he wanted Celeste to develop into a player, and not another one of his game pieces.

Right now she was somewhere in between. She could stubbornly refuse to obey him, thus behaving like a player, but at the same time it would be too easy to manipulate her through Accelerator.

"Cel, please report," Aleister finally said, diverting the topic.

She had left for three years for a reason. Granted, he had not expected the mission to take so long, but it did take time to build an information network and gather said information.

She hesitated, biting the side of her thumb in thought. "They had been spreading rumours that you were still alive. They're that desperate to put an end to the man who began their terror and the only Cursed Child to escape death at their hands."

So it was those imbeciles. He should have known. Not many people knew he was still alive, and those who did were tight-lipped. Namely, Heaven Canceller. The only ones who would once again increase suspicion that he hadn't died would be the clan, and they knew due to their history of sending children with his traits to him.

It appears that even though they called the children 'cursed' and killed them, they haven't forgotten their clan history.

"And?"

"Not many people pay them any attention, of course. They don't have any proof. But you know as well as I do that the rumours are widespread enough amongst the magicians to be worrying. Otherwise you wouldn't have sent me out to find the source."

Aleister sighed. "At least two magicians already know I exist. They have seen me and know my identity."

Celeste stiffened. "You want me to kill them?"

"No," Aleister said, amusement now shining in his eyes. "Those two will keep their mouths shut. And they are useful."

She hummed.

"So you think there will not be any trouble?" Aleister asked.

"So far they haven't found anyone who will believe them, let alone help them. But my information network is in place. I will know within hours if there are any major changes," Celeste told him.

Aleister smiled in satisfaction. He was right to send her. "And what took you three years?"

Celeste's expression twisted in annoyance, not at him, but at her job. "Those bastards moved. Something about making it harder for the Cursed Child to find and kill them. It took about half a year to find them. And do you know how long it takes to build a reliable and trustworthy network? You have forever and you had magic, so things were _easy_. Doing things manually takes more time, onii-chan. There were rats I had to exterminate too."

Aleister blinked in surprise. She killed people? He had no idea she could be that ruthless. He knew she would do anything for Accelerator…

Oh. Building a good network equals going home sooner, which equals seeing Accelerator again.

"I find it harder to believe that you could stay away from your precious Accelerator for three years," Aleister teased.

He should have known better.

Besides, it wasn't much fun teasing her about him. She never blushed.

She scowled, her annoyance immediately directing at him. "You have the gall! You made him kill over a thousand clones and toyed with his emotions and nearly got him killed several times!"

Her adorable Shiro-chan wasn't violent. He was cold, but that was because he hated hurting others. And he definitely wasn't sadistic. At least that's the way he was before. Now? His tsun-tsun levels shot through the galaxy.

"He's alive and you healed him."

" _Onii-chan_!"

He noted with amusement that she was absolutely livid. Perhaps he should be glad she never used her ability rashly? Or perhaps he should be glad she didn't have the energy to destroy his life support systems…

"Alright, Cel. Go bother your happy pill."

She blinked once, grinned, and stuck her tongue out at him before disappearing, leaving an uttered sentence hanging in the air.

Aleister chuckled. He didn't pity Accelerator at all.

 _Sigh. "Of all the people you had to fall in love with, Cel, did it have to be him?"_


	7. Chapter 7

Altreid: Thanks. Glad you liked the last chapter. I always did want to write one of those strangely cheerful characters. They seemed fun. As you read in the first chapter, Celeste saw Accelerator, thought he was cute, and developed a crush. She's stubborn, so she kept talking to him and probably fell for him when he started showing that he was tsundere rather than just cold and arrogant. It probably didn't hurt that everybody, including (especially) Aleister, told her to stay away from him because he was dangerous. I haven't read the light novels yet. I've found that English translations usually aren't very good. I've finished both the Toaru Majutsu and Toaru Kagaku anime, though, and I'm waiting until I'm fluent in Japanese to read all the LN's that I want to. Hopefully it won't take too long to learn.

 _"Onii-chan! I met a really really cute boy at school today! His name's Accelerator, but I call him Shiro-chan!"_

"SHIRO-CHAN!"

That was the only warning he got before a body slammed full force into him. Accelerator felt all the air forced out of him. He half turned to glare at the girl hanging onto his neck, ignoring all the incredulous stares and whispers that headed his way.

"Titania," Accelerator growled, using her epithet. He would probably never use her name again. Not after he got _that_ reaction when he used it for the first time.

"Cici! Misaka Misaka greets happily! If you don't mind the nickname, Misaka Misaka adds sheepishly."

"Hi kiddo. And I don't mind," Celeste grins down at the girl.

"Gerroff me."

She did… But made up for it by grabbing his hand. Last Order saw. And of course, she had to reach up to grab his other hand.

Him. The great Accelerator, number one ranked level five, was walking down the street holding hands with a hyper insane female with a giant crush on him, and a hyper insane chibi clone. Punctuate and interpret the 'hyper insane' part however you want.

If Kamijou Touma, that researcher lady, or the 'jan' lady saw him now, he would go jump off the nearest building.

"Ne, did you eat yet?"

No. He was _not_ going to a restaurant with her, as if they were on a date!

"Yes."

"No, Misaka Misaka tells Cici. Accelerator is lying."

He glared at the child. She ignored him.

"Then wanna go get something to eat?" Celeste asked.

"Hamburgers! Or steak! Or Korean barbeque! Misaka Misaka yells enthusiastically."

"Okay… So meat," Celeste stated. "Shiro-chan?"

"Whatever," he grumbled.

Grinning, the two females half dragged him into the restaurant, and minutes later the three were seated with their lunches in front of them. Last Order dug into her meat like a ravenous wolf, but Accelerator glared at his plate as if it had done something to offend him.

If he looked up, he just _knew_ she would be watching him. And her smile would be as full of sugar as the pie a la mode in front of her.

"Are you eating dessert for lunch, Misaka Misaka asks curiously."

"Yup! Desserts are the best, don't you think, Misaka Misaka asks?" Celeste says.

Accelerator glanced at her strangely.

"Misaka Misaka agrees! Misaka Misaka loves meat and ice cream!"

Accelerator muttered something under his breath.

"Ne, Shiro-chan, wanna try? Misaka Misaka asks temptingly." Celeste asked, holding out a forkful.

"No," he snapped back. "And stop saying Misaka Misaka! You're not the brat!"

"Oh," she laughed sheepishly. "I didn't notice… So? Wanna try?"

Accelerator stared at the fork she held out.

Wouldn't that be an indirect kiss?

But then again, they've kiss-kissed before, so an indirect kiss wouldn't really… But still! She bit her lip, glancing up at him through her lashes, giving him puppy dog eyes. He recoiled with a little 'urk!', and his fists clenched.

Resist resist resist resist…

He sighed and leaned forward, mouth closing over the fork. It wasn't bad, he thought as he chewed. He wouldn't mind eating sweet things more often if everything tasted like that…

And why was she looking at him like that?!

"Shiro-chan, you have something on the corner of your mouth," she told him, as innocently as if she had not 'accidentally' moved the fork a smidgen to the side to brush off the ice cream on his cheek.

"Hah?" He poked his tongue out, trying to clean it off. But her mischievous smile grew closer as she leaned over the table, pushing back the chair a little.

"I'll get it for you," she said, and her tongue flicked out, licking it off. "Mm. Sweet."

Accelerator was pretty sure he was a red, blushing mess. He didn't try to cuss her out. If he tried to speak, he knew he would turn into a red, blushing, stammering mess.

Last Order stared in awe. "Misaka Misaka knew it! Accelerator and Cici are in love, Misaka Misaka cries happily."

Accelerator recovered quickly. "I am _not_ in love with her!"

"He isn't," Celeste agreed.

Accelerator shoved the hurt look he was about to give her down to the bottom of the Earth's crust.

"B-b-but that's sad! Cici loves Accelerator but Accelerator hates Cici? Misaka Misaka blubbers sadly."

Celeste shrugged, settling down to eat. "It doesn't matter. He's allowed to hate me, because that still means he feels _something_ for me. And if he feels something for me, even hatred, it just means he won't forget me."

"But love and hate are the opposite, Misaka Misaka recites what she learned."

"No," Celeste said, amused. "Love and indifference are opposites."

"And if he feels indifferent? Misaka Misaka asks."

"Tch," Accelerator said. "I'm not indifferent."

"I'll probably do anything to make him hate me. Then he'll think about me all the time until he kills me, and then he still won't be able to forget me," Celeste said seriously.

Accelerator and Last Order gaped at her. Was she serious…?

"But he won't feel indifferent. If he did, he wouldn't remember my name!" Celeste grinned cheerfully at the memory.

"Idiot," Accelerator snapped.

"Your idiot."

… He couldn't disagree with that.

Lunch was over all too soon, and Celeste's mood was greatly lifted. So was Accelerator's, even if the scowl on his face said otherwise.

"Ne, Accelerator, do you like Cici, Misaka Misaka asks?"

"No."

"You really really don't? Misaka Misaka persists."

"Brat…" Accelerator warns.

"But Accelerator turned really red when Cici licked you, Misaka Misaka recalls."

Accelerator froze and glared murderously at the little girl. He wrapped his hands around her throat. "Tell anyone and I'll kill you."

"But anything Misaka Misaka sees, Misaka Misaka's sisters see!"

Accelerator froze once again, this time in mortification. Those clones. He groaned, knocking his head against the light pole over and over. He'll never live this down.

"Accelerator shouldn't hurt himself, Misaka Misaka cries!"

"With you two around, I'm surprised I haven't walked out in front of a car yet," he muttered under his breath.

"Misaka Misaka has to call Yomi and Yoshi! Accelerator is trying to self-harm, Misaka Misaka panics!"

"I'm not going to kill myself, brat," he grouched.

Last Order paused. "Really? Misaka Misaka asks."

"Yes, brat, now let's _go_."

Meanwhile, Celeste stops in her tracks, brows furrowed, cocking her head at a familiar looking girl jumping at a tree.

"What are you doing?"

"Titania, level four ability user of Real Illusion, Misaka notes. And cats don't like the electricity around us," Misaka clone answered.

"Hmm. What number are you anyways?" Celeste asked, moving closer and staring up at the cat.

"100—Just in case, I will need to ask you to say the password—"

"Doesn't matter," Celeste waved a hand. "It's not like you clones look any different, except Last Order, so I can't tell which number is which. Here kitty."

"Ah. You're Accelerator's girlfriend. How funny. That person has a girlfriend. Haha. Ha, Misaka laughs," Misaka clone laughed in a monotone.

"Not his girlfriend," Celeste said, "The cat is in my hands."

Immediately, as if the cat teleported, it was in her arms, fur raised in shock. She handed it over to the clone and walked away.

"Misaka thinks aloud, Accelerator blushed. She is definitely his girlfriend."

"Haha, Misaka Misaka told you so!" Last Order crowed from several blocks away, drawing strange looks from everyone. Including Accelerator.

He did _not_ want to know what she was talking to the other clones about.

 _"…Cel, I thought I told you to stay away from him…?"_


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I have chapter fifteen of the story planned and written, but with everything in between now and then left blank... Chapter fifteen should be the end, so look forward to it! 

Just curious. Do you guys read the italics at the beginning and end of each chapter? If you don't, you might want to read them, and read both at once. If I did it correctly, you should find them cute.

Also, Celeste shows a very different side of herself here. You might like it.

 _"You must be Accelerator. I'm Satori Miroku. Celeste-chan is quite a pretty girl, don't you think?"_

"…Can I help you?" Celeste asked.

"Are you Celeste Crowley? Titania?" The boy asked hesitantly, blushing a little.

"Yes…?"

"Really?" The boy's face lit up.

"Does it look like I would lie about who I am?" Celeste asked, annoyed.

"I love you. Please go out with me!"

"No." And she slammed the door in his face.

She didn't even take two steps back in before the doorbell rang and rang and rang. She yanked the door open, livid. " _What?_ "

"Lemme try that again. I'm Satori Miroku. I love you. Please go out with me."

"No." She tried to slam the door in his face again, but a foot wedged into the doorway.

Was this how Accelerator felt about her?

"Why?"

"One, you didn't even recognize my face. Two, I don't know you! Now leave me alone!" Celeste growled. "This idiot is outside and my door is shut!"

Immediately the door slammed shut, leaving the boy standing outside in surprise.

Once again she got no further than two steps in before the doorbell rang nonstop… Until it stopped.

"… and shut the fuck up!" Accelerator's voice growled.

Celeste couldn't help but grin. Her hero.

She glanced out of the peephole. Good. The boy was gone.

But that afternoon she made the mistake of going out.

"Titania-sama!" Satori Miroku yelled, grinning and waving.

She groaned. No. Just… No. She walked faster, trying to lose him.

No such luck.

"Alright. Who are you and what do you want with me?" She demanded, whirling to face him.

"I told you already. Satori Miroku, and I want to date you," he said, not missing a beat.

" _Why_."

"Because I love you."

"No you do not love me! You don't know me!" She half screamed, drawing attention from passer-by's.

"Yes I do. You're Titania-sama. You're as famous as a level five because Real Illusion is a rare and fascinating ability. You're kind, sweet, pretty, and everyone knows you're a good person because you're even nice to _Accelerator_ ," he spat out the name.

If she was irritated before, she was now downright pissed. "You. Insult. Accelerator. And. You. _Die_."

"Alright! I'm sorry," he said meekly. "But won't you go out with me? Even once? I'll convince you that I'm the best guy for you. I'll treat you right."

She sighed. "If I agree to spend tomorrow afternoon with you— _it's not a date_ —will you leave me alone?"

"Of course! I'll make it a wonderful da—uhh outing! Then you'll know what a wonderful guy I am!" Satori grinned. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at one!"

Celeste groaned. She could just vanish him, so he never existed, but that wasn't a very nice thing to do. Especially not to an innocent fanboy.

Ugh. She had _fanboys?_

But now that one had actually appeared, she realized that she did. In school there had been something called a 'Celeste Crowley Fanclub', and the last time she had been on the internet she had seen something similar.

Of course she had ignored the boys at school, except Accelerator, and had closed the internet page quickly, disturbed.

But she hadn't realized they were _serious_.

If her fanclub was real, then were the fanclubs for Misaka Mikoto and the other level fives real too?

Just how _creepy_ were these stalkers?

Especially that Shirai Kuroko character who was always posting on Misaka Mikoto's fanpage…

Celeste had regretted going onto the page out of curiosity when she was catching up on the Academy City news over the past three years. And she hoped she _never_ met Shirai Kuroko…

She went home and opened a box of instant ramen. Eating out didn't seem like a very good option anymore.

The next day, at _promptly_ one o'clock in the afternoon—didn't that guy have a _life?!_ —her doorbell rang.

She opened the door, growled out a 'give me a minute', and slammed the door in his face. She grabbed her coffee, strong and black and poured it down her throat in one shot. She needed that if she had to spend all afternoon with _him_.

Celeste opened the door to see Satori and Accelerator glaring at each other, before Satori noticed her and grinned.

"Ready for our date?" He asked cheerfully.

He didn't notice Accelerator's murderous aura.

"It's _not_ a fucking date. I will _never_ date you. Shiro-chan is the _only one_ I will _ever_ be willing to date. Now swear on your life that you will leave me alone after this," Celeste snapped.

Unfazed, Satori chirped, "Okay! You'll be the one coming to me after today anyways!"

"Not on your fucking life!" Celeste growled.

"You're so cute~!" Satori sang.

He reached for her hand, only for her to stomp hard on his foot before continuing to walk.

Accelerator stared after her in shock. Okay, what aliens had come and taken over his Celeste's body? The sweet and cheerful girl clinging onto him all the time had all but disappeared, turning into _his_ clone.

…He really hoped he hadn't rubbed off on her. She was fine the way she was before.

But…

When it came to guys other than himself, he wouldn't mind her behaving a little more like him. He smirked. Looks like the warning he gave the idiot was unnecessary.

"Titania-sama, are you hungry? Do you want to go get lunch?" Satori asked sweetly.

"Whatever."

"I know a really good pasta place," he continued. "I've made reservations."

She sat miserably in front of him, toying with her pasta while he chatted her ear off. Oh what she would give to have Accelerator in front of her instead of _this_ guy.

After an eternity, lunch was _finally_ over. It was only one thirty.

"Let's go watch a movie," she quickly suggested before he could say anything else.

He beamed. "Of course, Titania-sama! What do you want to watch?"

"We'll see when we get there," she said.

Celeste picked the longest action film she could find. Two and a half hours. She calculated quickly. At most the outing would last until nine. She could feign exhaustion and go home then. So after the movie…

Five hours left…

"That movie was amazing! You're good at picking out films," Satori told her exuberantly, the boy leading her down the streets.

Five hours to go, Celeste reminded herself.

"To think they killed an immortal like that in the end… Ingenious, don't you think?"

"Yeah. Ingenious."

"Especially since that guy had so much magic power. It was surprisingly easy to kill him."

"Hmm."

"But it was right, you know. I believe that people shouldn't live past their lifespans. Nobody should have their lives artificially increased like that."

"Hmm."

"Buddhists believe in reincarnation. Living beings that haven't yet reached enlightenment must live over and over. They are not allowed to live past what their karma has deemed them worthy of. Don't you agree?"

"Hmm."

"So… Won't you tell me more about Aleister Crowley?"

That shocked her into reality. " _Excuse me_?"

"Aleister Crowley," Satori repeated.

"He died in 1947," Celeste said, with a brow raised, her calm expression not betraying her racing heart.

"Now, we both know that's not true," Satori grinned, showing more teeth than what could be considered a smile. "Nobody's here, you know. You can tell me _anything_."

Celeste nodded with a smile, a little drowsy. "Yes. I suppose I can."

"Good girl," Satori purred. His spell was working wonderfully.

"What are you going to do after I tell you?" She asked.

He scowled for a second. His spell wasn't working perfectly after all. But that immediately turned back into his smile. "We, the Buddhist sect, will aid the Alexander clan in destroying the monster, of course."

Alexander Clan. Her clan. Aleister's descendants. They had taken Edward Alexander 'Aleister' Crowley's middle name, all to distance themselves from the man as much as possible.

"Mmm," Celeste hummed, eyes half closed, still smiling. "Aleister's my ancestor, you know…"

"Yes. I know."

"And…"

"Yes?"

"You're dead."

 _"Kusotare. If you touch her, I'll kill you."_


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I have nothing against Buddhists. My grandparents are Buddhists, with my mother halfway between that and Christianity. But the anime uses Christianity/Catholicism, and most anime only use Buddhism, Shinto, and Christianity, so... yeah.

 _She was cursed._

 _Blonde hair, silver eyes._

 _Born with a familiar at her side._

A pool of blood was gathering under his body. Faster than he could blink, she had summoned a knife and swiped it across his throat before moving back so none of his blood would touch her.

Celeste stared down at Satori Miroku's body, quivering.

No, it wasn't because she had killed him. She had killed people several times. But _why_ were they attacking now? She thought nobody believed her clan. Nobody had believed them.

But she knew they hadn't approached the Buddhists when she was still watching them. It was just her bad luck that they got to someone else who believed them right when she left.

Yes. She did mean someone else.

Because she didn't tell her brother that the ones she had killed during the three years hadn't all been agents. She had slaughtered everyone in any group that believed Aleister was still alive.

Her cell phone rang. Her shaking hand pressed the button.

"Hello?"

"Nia, are you there?" The frantic voice asked, using the code name.

"Fox."

"The clan got a Buddhist sect to believe them. They're heading your way right now!" The voice told her. "They'll be arriving in two days."

"Yeah," Celeste said, looking down at the body. "I kind of got that."

The voice sighed. "They're coming from the north. Eagle and Wolf are following them."

She was silent for a moment. She had just returned. Was she going to have to leave again?

She laughed silently, mirthlessly.

Accelerator would surely take _that_ well.

"Nia?"

"Have Eagle and Wolf stay in contact with me. You too. Keep watching the clan. I'll call you in a few hours."

"Understood."

They hung up, and Celeste let out a shaky sigh. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back, calming herself down.

"I am in front of Aleister Crowley."

He didn't even blink when she stood in front of him, reeling from the sudden teleportation. One look at her face and he knew there was trouble.

"A Buddhist sect believes them. They're coming," Celeste said.

Aleister was quiet for a moment. "Cel—"

"I'm going to meet them. Kill them too, if possible."

"Cel."

"They won't get to you. That much I can promise."

"Cel."

She finally looked at him, meeting his eyes.

"What about Accelerator?" He asked gently.

"What _about_ Accelerator?" Celeste asked. Aleister was silent. Celeste sighed. "Just… Just take care of him. Don't let anybody use him anymore. Not even you."

And Aleister knew. "Cel, don't die. You can't die. You're my heir."

"And I'll be the last," Celeste said.

"You're going to kill them all."

"Yes. My network can handle it. They'll kill every last member of the clan. And I'll handle the Buddhist sect heading this way," she said, then smiled wryly. "It's funny. Ironic. I would have left them alone. I wouldn't have done anything to them if they had left me alone. Left us alone. But they're so paranoid about us destroying them that they've forced us to destroy them."

Aleister watched her for a moment. "Don't die. That's an order."

She closed her eyes, giving him a bright smile. "I'm in front of Accelerator."

And she disappeared.

"Shiro-chan!" She greeted cheerfully.

"Titania," he said, then looked around. "He's not here?"

"He's… gone," A haunted look flashed across her eyes so quickly he wasn't sure he had seen correctly.

"… Good."

She grinned. "Were you jealous?"

"Hell no."

She laughed. But Accelerator frowned. There was something wrong with her. She acted like everything was fine, but none of her smiles reached her eyes.

Celeste moved closer with a sigh, and leaned her forehead against his shoulder.

"O-oi!"

She whispered something, stepped back, and with another bright smile, whispered something else and disappeared.

Accelerator was left standing in the middle of the street, confused and, as much as he hated to admit it, worried.

Celeste walked through the uninhabited land outside Academy City, heading north. She didn't have much time before they arrived. She just hoped there weren't too many of them. It didn't take much energy to kill someone. It was surprisingly easy, whether it was with her ability or physically.

She grabbed her phone and dialled.

"Hello?"

"Fox."

"Nia."

"Gather everyone. Hire mercenaries if you need to. I'll pay. Kill them all. Do not even leave a single dog or chicken alive."

There was a brief silence. "We won't need mercenaries."

"You'll get the money when you're done."

"Understood."

She knew her orders would be followed. She gathered criminal magicians and soldiers for a reason. They were on the run, she protected them, they were loyal to her. They had proved it. That was why, by the time she left, she trusted them.

She also promised them refuge in Academy City when everything was over. Aleister would take care of it if she died. She had already told him, he had already agreed. They would do their job. And she would do hers.

She walked for about a day until she found a good place to fight. It had enough places to hide or dodge behind, and since she would be waiting, she could set up everything, and recover by the time they arrived.

"I can use magic without side effects for five minutes," she murmured, and felt the energy drain. She wouldn't be able to use her abilities for that time span.

Quickly she set to work, setting up spells and traps she had learned from Aleister, ones that she knew she didn't need magic to activate when the Buddhist sect arrived.

She knew her five minutes were up when her senses tingled and pain ran up her arm, and she quickly ceased the spell before it could damage her. Celeste stepped back and surveyed her work. It was decent. For someone who never used magic, it was decent.

She lay back with a sigh, watching the sun set. Half a day left, give or take a few hours.

The next morning, Fox called. "It's done."

"The children too?"

"Nia, we finish our jobs," Fox said, and she could practically hear him roll his eyes. "There isn't even a cockroach alive in there."

She couldn't help but smile. "Thanks. I owe you."

He was silent for a moment. "No. We owe you. This is the least we could do."

"Come to Academy City. All of you already have fake ID's there. I'll send you the money and the information."

"Thanks. And Nia?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't die."

"Everybody seems to be telling me that," she said with a light tone. "Do I seem suicidal?"

"No. Insane, maybe. But not suicidal."

She laughed as she hung up, quickly transferring the money into their accounts and sending everyone emails regarding their new identities. They would like Academy City. Nobody would hunt them there, unless they do something stupid and incur the wrath of Anti-Skill or any other disciplinary force.

It was her turn.

She would wait.

And she would kill anyone who dared to try and harm Aleister.

 _She belonged to_ him _. She was_ his _blood._ His _Heir._

 _She will destroy them all._

 _So she had to die._


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks Kira Minzu for favoriting and following!

 _"Shiro-chan, if I disappeared, if I stopped existing, will you miss me?"_

Her phone rang once, twice, three times. And it fell silent once again. Celeste sighed, leaning her head back against the tree, eyes closed, trying to relax and concentrate.

Three hours left.

With her body this tense, it would be a long wait.

For the hundredth time, her eyes scanned the clearing, checking on her magic traps. They were all potent and ready.

Wasn't there anything else she could do to prepare? Even if Satori Miroku had been weak, his spell easy to shake off, there was no saying that the rest of them were the same level.

With her ability, some complex things took surprisingly little energy and required surprisingly little as an exchange, but some simple things took a surprising amount of energy.

And some things she didn't dare try because she had no idea what the consequences would be.

It would have been so easy just to kill someone with words, but exactly what would the universe demand in exchange?

A branch cracked.

Celeste shot to her feet, ready to fight.

But she froze in surprise, eyes widening when they met red and white. What…?

"Shi—"

"Titania," Accelerator growled.

He was furious. The _idiot_ dared to disappear on him again! At least this time he had realized something was wrong. And he had used the Misaka network to hack into her phone signal. They tracked her down.

"H-how… Why…"

"They found the body, idiot."

"O-oh…" She averted her eyes. She couldn't look him straight in the eye. Not now.

Something in Accelerator snapped. "What the hell! You really think you could disappear again looking like you're going to die?! Fuck you!"

Her eyes widened, snapping back to meet his red orbs. That was the first time he had ever cussed her out like that. It only meant one thing. He was _pissed_. But…

"I won't die, okay? So you should leave. You shouldn't get involved in this," she said, giving him a smile.

Accelerator's eyes narrowed. It was another of those _damned_ smiles that didn't reach her eyes. Did she really think she could deceive him with that pathetic attempt at a smile? Had she forgotten that he was the one who had seen more of her smiles than anybody else? Had she forgotten who she had spent the most time with?

If she thought he wouldn't see through her, she had another thought coming.

"No."

"H-huh?!" She stuttered, surprised.

"No. Or are you deaf?! Kusotare!" Accelerator snapped.

"B-but—"

"And stop stuttering! It's annoying and so not like you that I want to punch some sense back into that empty head of yours!"

Celeste opened her mouth, but shut it again immediately. She really didn't want him to see this. She wanted him to keep seeing her as the cheerful girl who wouldn't hurt anyone.

She didn't want him to become disgusted with her when he saw her massacre a bunch of people, didn't want him to develop an even lower opinion of her when he found out that she was considered 'cursed', an abomination.

"So what the hell was it that made you leave again?" Accelerator huffed.

"I…"

"Are there people you need to kill?"

Her head shot up, the girl's mind going blank in shock. Accelerator rolled his eyes at her reaction. It wasn't as if he didn't know she had other sides to her that he had never seen. Her attitude towards that Satori bastard was something he had never seen before. And it wouldn't surprise him if she had killed people before.

She had smelled faintly of blood and death the day she returned, the day she healed him.

He knew that scent very well.

"I know you've killed people before, idiot. So have I. So what? I've seen you pound someone into the dirt for insulting me when we were kids. It's not like I don't know how violent you could be."

Celeste blinked, mind wrapping around the words for a moment before her shoulders started to shake.

"Stop laughing, damn it!" Accelerator snapped, scowling.

"Sorry, sorry! I just… Really didn't expect you to try and comfort me," she giggled. "And you're not really that good at comforting people."

"Tch."

She poked his cheek, grinning. "You're cute when you pout."

"I'm not cute!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. You'll always be my adorable tsundere," Celeste said, her tension completely gone.

He always had that effect on her.

"Your _what?!_ " His face was red, heated from a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "I'm _NOT_ a tsundere, idiot!"

She didn't reply, but her eyes were dancing in amusement.

"Tch," he repeated.

It was silent for a while, but it was comfortable. The two stood side by side, backs leaning against the tree, arms barely touching. Accelerator wondered when he had become so comfortable, so used to her presence. If anyone else dared touch him so casually, he would probably tear their heads off.

In fact he _had_ killed several people simply for bumping into him when he was in a bad mood.

What? They didn't apologize, and they should have known better than to get too near _the_ Accelerator.

It wasn't like he was hard to recognize, with the white hair and red eyes and all.

Interrupting the silence, her phone rang once.

Accelerator felt Celeste stiffen, then relax with a sigh. She had no idea how she missed the two hour mark, but with Accelerator distracting her, it wasn't surprising.

"They're here to kill onii-chan," Celeste finally said.

"You have a brother?" Accelerator asked, dumbfounded.

She gave a small smile. "He's more like my great great great times I don't know how many generations grandfather. But he looks too young, and it's a lot shorter to call him 'onii-chan'."

"People can't live that long…" Accelerator deadpanned. Then it hit him. Could it be?

"It's a secret, but it's Aleister Crowley. A founder of Academy City and one of the residents of the Windowless Building," she told him.

"Oh. _That_ bastard."

She raised her eyebrow.

"He used me as a pawn."

"Yeah. I know."

At that, he shot her a glare. " _What_?"

"I read the files," she corrected. "They never really did anything until three years ago, right?"

Accelerator scowled. "He waited until you were gone."

"Yeah. At least he respects me that much."

Accelerator wondered if he should mention that he threw a building at her 'brother'.

But then again, if she was killing a whole bunch of people to protect the bastard, he didn't think she would take too well to finding out that he had tried to attack the man.

Briefly he wondered if she had to choose between them, who she would choose.

When he thought that it might be Aleister, something inside him clenched, and he felt like killing something. Namely Aleister.

"Well, well. We are honoured to have the Cursed Child come all the way out to meet us," a new voice said.

The two teens stiffened. They glared at the new arrivals.

Celeste made a low growl. "There's ten minutes to spare. So much for you bastards arriving in an hour."

 _"Tch. I dare you to try."_


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Oh kami. I have no idea how to write fight scenes. I hate writing fight scenes. Reading them is exciting, but why do they have to be so hard to write?

And yes, I know I aged Aleister by a few centuries and gave him a noncanon son. He's supposed to die in 1947, so he would have been her grandfather or greatgrandfather, rather than an ancestor. But I can't really say I'm sorry, because I'm not, and his age doesn't really matter... right? 

_"I wasn't bothering you! I left long ago! Why are you still chasing me?!"_

"You've grown," a man said, moving to the front of the pack.

He was obviously one of the clan, and not one of the Buddhists. He had the traits of the clan—the mop of dark hair and dark eyes—and wore the clan symbol.

Celeste tensed. Dignitas, who had disappeared a long time ago when she had become a full esper, once again appeared, hissing. His black fur stood, his back arched in malice.

"Dignitas?" Celeste whispered, surprised that the familiar chose to appear once again.

"That beast again," the man said with distaste. "Well? Are you not going to greet your own father, child?"

It was Accelerator's turn to tense.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just didn't recognize you _because I haven't seen you since you tried to kill me sixteen years ago_ ," Celeste hissed, turning an icy glare at the man.

"Hmph. And if that bitch hadn't taken you and ran, you would _be_ dead," the man shrugged. "And it is strange. We've weeded out _his_ genes from our clan for generations, and yet you were born more like that man than anyone had for centuries."

Accelerator growled. So if they had succeeded, he would never have met her, would have been alone.

And she would have been dead.

"You know, if you had let me be, the clan wouldn't have needed to die. I wouldn't have bothered going back to destroy everyone," Celeste said offhandedly.

"Is that so…" the man said.

"Unfortunate, isn't it? You brought on your own destruction, and there will be nobody to bury the dead," Celeste grinned, a murderous expression Accelerator found he was a little excited to see.

It didn't hurt that the man stiffened in the most _delicious_ way.

" _What_?" He hissed.

"Didn't you know?" Celeste smirked. "I gave the order to massacre everyone last night. They reported back this morning. Nobody was left alive. Not even the children."

"You _monster!_ "

"Watch what you call her!" Accelerator snarled. "Someone who kills innocent infants doesn't have the right to call someone else that!"

The man noticed Accelerator for the first time.

"And who are you?" He demanded. "Outsiders should stay out."

"I could say the same for your lackeys," Accelerator smirked, gesturing at the Buddhists.

The group shuffled angrily.

" _Get them!_ " The man shouted, and stepped back.

"Coward!" Celeste jeered.

But she had no time to direct anymore insults at her blood father. The two were surrounded.

"There's a sword in my hand," Celeste said quietly.

Immediately the ground beneath them dipped into a crater, the minerals and metals forming the weapon. The Buddhists watched warily, staffs gripped in both hands.

"Rise, spirit of fury. Bringer of doom. Come forth and strike! Display your wrath! Sacred flames of the seven stars, cast your judgement upon the world!" Celeste shouted the trigger for activating the spells she had set.

Accelerator blinked at her in confusion, but that quickly disappeared when white flames rose in a ring of fire. The heat danced and consumed flesh. He watched in awe as those caught in the flames writhed and burned; those lucky enough to escape the fire watched in horror. And when the supernatural flame finally died, there was nothing left of its victims but smoking ashes and charred bone.

"You are not an esper?" One of the Buddhists asked.

"I am Aleister Crowley's heir. Do you really think I would know no magic?" Celeste asked smugly.

Accelerator blinked. Magic?

"GET HER!" Celeste's father roared.

Celeste didn't spare him a glance, but Accelerator did, and grinned. The man's arm had disappeared, leaving a smoldering stump that oozed blood. The fire had cauterized it, but not well enough, apparently.

Accelerator tapped his heel to the ground. Immediately the earth split, cracking and rising, barrelling down anybody in its way. The father gave an undignified yelp when it sent him off balance, and he simply lay there whimpering.

"Shiro-chan," Celeste murmured, drawing his attention back to the immediate fight.

He narrowed his eyes. Lights glowed in the Buddhists' hands as they murmured some sort of chant.

As one, they grunted, and the lights shot.

Celeste and Accelerator dove in different directions, barely avoiding the beams. When the smoke cleared, Accelerator stiffened. The tiny crater they had stood in had become a gaping, bottomless chasm.

"Shiro-chan, be careful," Celeste told him.

He only nodded, narrowed eyes trained on the enemy. He would slaughter them.

As if on signal, they leapt apart into the fray.

Celeste's sword wove, dipping into the chinks between the Buddhists' armour and drawing blood. She slowly worked her way forward, driving deep into the enemy lines, until she was completely surrounded.

There were more enemies than she had expected. Her so called father had brought an _entire_ sect of Buddhists, and while many of them were weak, she knew the leaders were somewhere waiting and watching, and they would not be anywhere as pathetic as the rest of their followers.

She heard screams from behind, and couldn't help but grin. Accelerator was enjoying himself. She should start working harder too.

Her sword struck metal armour, drawing sparks. "Fire."

Immediately the man burst into flames, screaming in agony and throwing himself to the ground in attempt to put out the fire before he went limp.

But there were still too many enemies.

She heard chanting.

"I can use magic for one minute," she murmured. "Repercutio."

Celeste fought the urge to dodge the beam that shot her way as the reflective barrier shot up around her. Screams sounded around her as the beam shot through the Buddhists, killing them in a burst of friendly fire.

A dozen more to go.

"Kronos, usurper and usurped. By the bonds of Tartarus I compel thee, wreak chaos upon mine enemies!"

For a moment there was utter silence. Then darkness fell in a small sphere around her. And then there was screaming.

She felt sticky liquid splatter over her, smelled copper. A drop of warmth landed near her lip, quickly cooling. She flicked her tongue to taste it. Blood.

The darkness faded slowly, but she already knew the result of the spell.

Twelve down.

Three to go.

Two of the three Buddhist leaders stood glaring at her, the remaining one watching Accelerator destroy the last of their sect. Blood quickly soaked into the ground beneath their feet, but the pieces of flesh and bone littering the ground could trip them if they were not careful.

Celeste did not have to look at herself or at Accelerator to know that they were both covered in blood.

She stood, tensed, waiting for the final seconds to run out before she could use her ability once again.

But she froze in shock when something flashed. Pain blossomed through her side. Her eyes widened. It took all her willpower not to drop to her knees and scream in pain. When? When had he performed the spell?!

The leaders stared impassively at her. She glared.

Celeste sprung, teeth clenched as her sword slashed upwards, meeting the man's staff with a dull clang. Bloody dirt sprayed as her foot slid, the girl spinning to meet the other staff falling towards her head.

Her other fist shot up, nailing the other man in the stomach.

But it hit armour, and she bit out a curse, retreating in a few jumps, shaking out her sore hand.

They didn't let her rest.

The two moved in sync, coming in from both sides. Celeste growled, eyes flicking between her enemies as she parried one staff while grabbing the other in her bare palm. The man's eyes widened in surprise. He tried to yank back, but her grip was firm. She tugged with her whole weight, pulling him a step forward, before angling the staff and _pushing_.

She grinned with grim satisfaction when the end of the staff hit him hard where the sun didn't shine. He made a strangled sound, doubled over in pain, dropping the staff as he backed away.

Good. Fighting two at once wasn't something she could do very well when her enemies were powerful.

The grin disappeared as the bottom end of the monk's staff buried itself in her stomach. It hit her ribs with a hollow thud.

 _"You're the cursed child._ His _heir. If we don't kill you, you will bring destruction to us."_


	12. Chapter 12

_"_ _Curse this, curse that… I'm not cursed! I'm Aleister Crowley's heir! And all of you can go to hell! As Shiro-chan always says…"_

She choked out a half scream before she forced her mouth shut.

Did Accelerator hear that? She couldn't sound weak in front of him…

But she didn't have time to finish her thoughts. The staff whirled around, and she dove to the side, and the tip scraped past the side of her neck, missing her jugular by centimeters.

She backtracked quickly, eyes shooting between the ground and her pursuer, trying not to grip over the limbs lying everywhere.

She should have disintegrated them.

Desperately, Celeste tried to regain her breath. She needed to use her ability, needed to finish off this one enemy before the other recovered.

"You are buried in the chasm!" She half screamed, using up the little air she had.

She had no idea how she had the concentration to use her abilities like that, but she barely felt the gaping wound in her side. It was adrenaline, she knew, and her activity now would come bite her in the behind later.

The man only had half a second to look surprised before he flickered out of sight, and then his scream echoed as he fell down the hole his own followers had created not long ago.

He hit the bottom with a resounding, dull, wet thud.

And Celeste turned to face her remaining enemy.

Grinning, Accelerator lay a single finger on the last lackey, and reversed his bloodstream. The man barely had time to scream before all his veins and arteries burst, and his heart exploded. Blood dripped from his eyes, ears, nose, mouth.

"You're the only one left," Accelerator noted, eyes flicking to Celeste, the girl fighting the only other living Buddhist.

He ignored Accelerator, and muttered something under his breath.

"Oi, that trick's getting old!" Accelerator taunted, not moving a step.

The beam shot.

Accelerator stood still, hands in his pocket, a mad grin on his face.

The beam hit—and reversed.

The Buddhist's eyes widened in shock as he was forced to dodge his own attack, his robes smoldering as the beam grazed the fabric. The ground behind him exploded in a shower of dirt and pebbles.

"I see. You, too, are an abomination," the man said tranquilly, picking himself up off the ground.

Accelerator's eyes narrowed. "If you want an abomination, look behind you."

"Humans should not defy Buddha. Humans should not live past their lifespans. Humans should not be able to use abilities only the enlightened are permitted to use," the man said.

"Hah? Look who's talking! I'm an esper. You're the one using some weird magic!" Accelerator snorted.

"Lord Buddha has been generous and kind. He has granted his followers with the power to punish and destroy that which should not exist. We shall punish sinners for the Lord Buddha!" The man finished with a yell, and attacked.

The man's staff whirled, slamming into Accelerator's reflective barrier again and again. Accelerator yawned, bored. Of course, the man would mistake it for something that would run out of power.

But this didn't take much brainpower, and took even less energy. It was his default setting.

If a building could fall on him without ruffling a single hair, did this idiot really think his pathetic attempts could actually break past his barrier?

It wouldn't weaken or run out of energy. Not like the man trying desperately to actually land a single hit.

Finally realizing that he was getting nowhere, the man stepped back, panting for air. Accelerator only cocked is head, sending the man an infuriating, arrogant smirk.

"What, done already, old man?"

He ignored Accelerator, beginning to chant, and the boy scowled. He was getting sick of this.

Pushing against the ground, Accelerator shot forward, hand reaching out for bare skin. Eyes narrowing, the man dodged to the side. Accelerator landed, sliding to a halt before turning slowly. His eyes flicked to the ground he had torn up earlier. He walked over slowly, tauntingly.

Celeste's father whimpered with fear, legs pushing futilely against the ground in an attempt to crawl away from the dangerous boy. Accelerator paused, cocking his head as he considered the pathetic worm squirming on the ground. He had completely forgotten about him.

Should he just kill him now?

He was Celeste's father, but she didn't seem to care much about him. In fact she seemed perfectly willing to kill him.

A murderous grin grew on Accelerator's face. He lifted his leg and stomped down, increasing the force tenfold with his ability. The head exploded like a watermelon. Accelerator lifted his leg, and flung it a bit, disgusted. Were those bits of _brain_ stuck to his shoe?

He made a mental note to burn everything he was wearing later.

"Hey, old man. Now that your lackeys and your last employer's dead, why don't you go crawling back into whatever hole you came from?" Accelerator smirked over his shoulder.

The glare he received told him that the monk would do no such thing. He shrugged and lifted a giant piece of ground. The monk's eyes widened. Accelerator threw.

The giant rock shot through the air like a bullet, the speed almost impossible for its size. Rock after rock rained after the Buddhist, the man forced to run around to escape the hail of small boulders.

Accelerator laughed, "Look! A giant rat! Scurry, little rat!"

The monk cursed and swung his staff. Accelerator moved to the side, and saw the blow cut through the ground like butter. He raised an eyebrow at the damage caused by the invisible attack, then turned to the monk.

"I thought you holy idiots weren't supposed to curse?" Accelerator asked flippantly.

The man let out another curse that would have made a sailor turn green with envy.

He flung the staff again and again, Accelerator dodging just for the fun of it.

He could just as easily have reflected everything back, but what was the fun in that? The monk smirked, thinking that Accelerator could no longer use that barrier. He started attacking more fervently, hoping to drive the boy into a corner.

Accelerator's insane grin slowly disappeared, replaced by boredom. Really? Was this all the man had? He had fought people with a larger variety of attacks, and people who could actually injure or kill him if they planned well.

This guy wasn't one of them.

With a scream, the man let out another barrage of attacks. Accelerator rolled his eyes and stayed still, reflecting everything. The man used his own barrier. None of the reflected attacks hit him.

"Keh, where do you think you're aiming, dumbass?" Accelerator mocked, smirking.

But his opponent only smirked.

 _"_ _KUSOTARE!"_


	13. Chapter 13

_"_ _Ne, Shiro-chan. I was really happy when you came. Really, really happy. I got to see you one last time."_

He heard a gasp. He shouldn't have. The battlefield was noisy enough that he shouldn't have heard such a soft sound. But he did, and he knew who the voice belonged to.

He turned, slowly, his heart screaming that he didn't want to see. Because he knew exactly what kind of scene would meet his eyes.

But turn he did.

Celeste bled, too much for it to be healthy. The slash that had just passed him stretched diagonally across her back. Accelerator saw a flash of white in the midst of all the red, and knew the attack had hit bone. One of her own opponents had managed to land a hit on her side, and that wound was losing blood too.

No… No no no no no no!

"Fuck!" Accelerator spat.

He watched in horror as she reeled on her feet, stumbling off balance. The pain hit all at once, her adrenaline disappearing with her blood. Damn it! How long had she been losing blood for? She was covered in so much blood that he had no idea how much was hers and how much belonged to the enemy.

Accelerator swore furiously, turning to his enemy with a snarl. He would finish this _now_. She needed to get to a hospital!

His opponent's smirk widened at the expression.

But it vanished in a choked noise as Accelerator closed in at a speed never attempted before. Slender fingers wrapped around his throat.

" _Die_ ," Accelerator hissed, and crushed the man's windpipe.

He dropped the man. He was still dying, desperate for air, but he no longer cared. The man was as good as dead. Accelerator spun on his heel, seething with rage. These idiots! All three of them! And yes, he was including that stupid stupid _stupid_ Celeste!

As he passed her, he heard a thump as she lost the strength to stand, but he didn't turn back.

This enemy apparently hadn't been watching his fight. He attacked Accelerator with his staff.

A big mistake.

Accelerator simply grabbed it and yanked his face close to the last living enemy. His hand reached out and touched skin. It took only seconds. With Accelerator reversing the blood flow, the man died in a shower of blood.

Only then did Accelerator turn to Celeste.

Hell, she was pale. Her breath came in short pants, her eyes half closed. Accelerator cursed.

"I'm taking off your shirt," he said curtly.

She didn't even have the energy to make a smart-ass comment, and only nodded slightly. Gently, more gently than he would ever have thought himself capable of, he peeled off her bloodied shirt and hissed at the damage.

"Heal yourself," he demanded. "You can do that, right?"

"No," Celeste said, voice soft. "Hurts."

"Concentrate! Ignore the pain!" Accelerator snapped.

"Can't…"

"You _can_!"

"No. Not what I mean…" She paused for a moment, regaining her breath. "Payment. Equivalent exchange. Healed you."

Accelerator froze, shocked. "So… You can't heal yourself because you healed me before?!"

She nodded, a small movement of her head. "Nine years."

Accelerator punched the ground, a string of curses passing his lips. She couldn't heal herself. And it was _his_ fault.

"Shiro-chan. Not your fault. My choice. Love you."

"Damn it! Can you make bandages?" He demanded. "Without dying?"

"Bandages next to you," she muttered.

Accelerator looked over to see, with relief, that she had managed to do it. But she looked even paler than before. Her torso fell forward, the girl no longer to even remain kneeling.

"Kusotare," Accelerator growled. "Stay kneeling. Just for a moment."

She nodded wearily.

He got to work, wrapping the bandages quickly. He didn't care about infection right then. The doctors could take care of that. He just had to _stop the damned bleeding_!

His arms circled her. When he reached her chest, he hesitated. What the hell was he supposed to do with her bra?

Ah, screw it.

He wrapped the bandages over it. There was no way he was taking that off like some kind of sick pervert.

"Can you—" he started to ask when he finished, but bit off the question. Of course she couldn't stand. "Wrap your arms around my neck."

She complied the moment he turned his back, and he lifted her thighs, grunting as he stood. She was heavier than she looked.

He started moving, using Vector Change to skim across the ground quickly and smoothly.

He felt her eyelashes flutter shut against his jawbone.

"Oi, don't you _dare_ go to sleep!" He growled, feeling a prick of panic. If she went to sleep now, she would die.

"Tired. Hurts."

"I _know_. But don't sleep, idiot!"

But her breath was shallow, her body colder than it should be. She was dying. Unless he could keep her conscious.

"Why didn't you just tell them to die, idiot?!" He asked, referring to the Buddhists.

"Don't know consequences."

"The consequence would be that you wouldn't have gotten injured, kusotare!"

"… It's fine if only me hurt. If Shiro-chan hurt would kill."

"What are you, three? Ever thought that I would feel pain if you got hurt this badly?!"

She fell into a shocked silence. "Oh."

It was silent for a moment.

"Ne, Shiro-chan," she managed to murmur.

"What."

"Lie."

"Hah?!"

"Tell… You like me. Even if… lie."

Accelerator was quiet for a moment. Then, "No."

"Oh."

"I'll tell you when you're _healed_ and can actually remember what I'm saying."

"Okay," she said.

He could feel her smile against his skin.

Her chest rose. Fell. Rose. Fell…

For a few precious seconds, he felt panic overrun him, but her chest rose again in a shallow breath, and he felt a burst of relief.

"Celeste," Accelerator said.

"Name," she said, and he could hear the faint happiness in her voice.

"I like you."

"Thank… lie…" Thank you for lying.

Accelerator scowled. "It's not a lie, damn it! I like you! I've liked you since you were an annoying brat following me around every day!"

He felt her breath hitch.

"Love you," Celeste murmured.

Accelerator stiffened. Ah, hell with it. He muttered, "Love you too."

"Haha," she laughed weakly. "Happy."'

"I know, you idiot. You're too easy to please."

"Only… you."

"Tch. I'll take you on a proper date after, so don't you dare die," he snapped, feeling more embarrassed than he had ever felt in his life.

"Mm."

He heard her give a small sigh, felt her muscles slacken. His heart raced, and it had nothing to do with her proximity, and had nothing to do with his feet skimming over the ground.

"Kusotare! I didn't say all that disgusting mushy stuff just so that you can die in peace! Now wake up and stay awake!"

"Sleepy."

"Fuck that, idiot! If you die I'll go to hell and drag you back just to kill you again myself!"

"Shiro-chan. Happy. Thank you."

 _Fuck!_ His feet moved faster and faster. She couldn't die. She couldn't!

He felt her breathing.

And like a breath of relief, Academy City came into view.

 _"_ _You're staying alive, damn it! Don't you dare start talking like you're going to die!"_

* * *

A/N: To Altreid, regarding the question before about what she had to sacrifice for healing Accelerator. There are two reasons why the payment is so severe. First, it's because under the law of equivalent exchange, healing Accelerator was worth a lot to both of them, so the price was high. Second, the wound Accelerator had was apparently a penetrating wound, which usually causes massive tissue damage. I'm not sure about the facts, but neuroplasticity can compensate for brain damage in developing brains. Brains stop developing around age 25. Therefore equivalent exchange for healing Accelerator=Celeste being unable to heal anybody for the next nine years (25 years old-16 years old).


	14. Chapter 14

_"I was always too strong. A monster. A murderer. I'm not someone who can love, not someone who can be loved…"_

"HEAL HER!"

The hospital paused, everything freezing for a moment before everyone resumed their work.

"You are Accelerator-kun, correct? May I ask what is the prob—"

"Get me the frog doctor," Accelerator snarled. "And get her to the operating room _NOW_!"

"Now, if you'll calm down and answer a few ques—" The nurse attempted again.

Accelerator glared her in the eyes, and said very slowly, "If she dies, your head gets ripped off your shoulders, understood? Now _get me that frog doctor!_ "

"That's _Accelerator_!" One of the nurses hissed at the brave or idiotic one speaking to the boy.

Yet another nurse called out over the intercom, "Dr. Gekot—I mean Dr. Heaven Canceller, please come to the front immediately. Emergency patient. Repeat, come to the front immediately!"

Everyone, patients and staff, all tiptoed on eggshells, sending nervous glances at Accelerator. If he wasn't ready to tear out all their throats for being _so_ _damned slow_ , he would have been amused. He liked being feared. Granted, it had to be because he was covered with blood, but terror was terror.

Finally Gekota in human form appeared, glanced over the two, and barked out orders. "Prepare Operation Room Five immediately! Get any available hand in there scrubbed down! This is an emergency—MOVE IT!"

The doctor once again glanced at his patient, and decided against trying to get Accelerator to relinquish her to a stretcher. He nodded at the boy to follow, and the two hurried off.

The blood flow had stopped. He would have thought it was a good thing, if he hadn't known it was because there was almost no blood left in her body to lose.

She was _so cold_. Accelerator's grip tightened, his chest clenching. If he didn't feel her chest rising and falling against his back, no matter how small the movement, he would have thought her dead.

"Put her down here," Dr. Gekota said, ignoring that the highly unsanitary boy was in the highly sanitized operation room.

Accelerator only hesitated for half a second. But he obeyed. He didn't trust most of the doctors and nurses in the room, but he knew Dr. Gekota would fix her. After all, he could fix a bullet through the head, right?

"What's her blood type?" the doctor asked.

Accelerator hesitated. He had no idea.

The doctor nodded. "Get O type blood. She's lost too much blood. We need an immediate transfusion."

Accelerator winced. She probably knew his blood type, his birthday, his real name, everything. If she were anybody else, he would probably call her a creepy stalker. But she was the only person who cared about him.

And he didn't even know her favourite color.

"You should leave," one of the side doctors told him. "If you need to watch, go up there."

Accelerator glared, opening his mouth to snap back at the man, but before he could say a word, Dr. Gekota began his operation.

"Let him stay," the man said. "Just stay out of the way."

Accelerator nodded, even though the man couldn't see him. He backed away a few steps, eyes flicking between her face and the faint beeps of the heart monitor.

The doctors worked frantically, transfusing blood, cleaning the wounds, removing particles that shouldn't be there, suturing.

But she had lost a lot of blood.

The monitor flat-lined.

Accelerator's breath stopped. The doctors rushed around, but everything was a blur except _her_ face. Too pale, stained with blood. And then the beeping started again, her heart jolted back into moving.

The doctors breathed a sigh of relief, more than one of them shooting nervous glances at Accelerator.

The boy felt himself relax, the fists that he hadn't noticed himself clench coming loose. He felt a light pain on his palms, and at the back of his mind, realized that his nails had broken skin.

"…celerator. Accelerator?" Heaven Canceller repeated, standing in front of the boy.

Accelerator's gaze finally tore, albeit reluctantly, away from Celeste and to the doctor.

"It's done. She's stable. She'll be fine when the anaesthesia wears off and she wakes up."

"… Thanks." Accelerator said, the word foreign in his mouth.

Heaven Canceller's eyes flicked to the nurses wheeling the girl out, then asked, "Is there a reason she didn't heal herself?"

He watched with curiosity as the boy stiffened, face going carefully blank.

Accelerator chose his words carefully. "She cannot heal anyone for the next nine years. It is what she exchanged for something she did with her ability."

Heaven Canceller furrowed his brows. The boy was lying about something, but he let it slide. "I see. I had her put in room 4696. You may want to change before you go to her."

He did so quickly, showering to wash the blood off before shooting back out of his apartment door, ignoring the questions from Yomikawa, Yoshikawa, and Last Order.

Accelerator walked into Celeste's hospital room to find her clean of blood. Someone had washed her, and her hair was once again the blonde he had grown attached to. He sat next to the bed, waiting for her to wake.

"Shiro-chan?" She said sleepily.

Accelerator shot out of his daze, fighting the urge to smile. "Hm?"

"You'd look really cute with bunny ears."

"What the _fuck_?!"

If she were sober she would have laughed at the expression he made.

"Yeah. An albino bunny. But cat ears would be really cute too."

He stared incredulously at her. He wished it was only the drugs talking, but if she was completely sober, she would probably say something like this too.

"And if your hair grew a bit longer, you'd probably make a really cute girl."

He fell silent, speechless. He was just grateful nobody else was there to hear this. Especially not Last Order. If she heard, she would never let him live it down. But now he only sighed, running his fingers through her hair. It was damp, he thought absently.

"Shiro-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"You really Shiro-chan?"

"Hah? Of course, dumbass."

"You're being nice."

He scowled. "You implying something?"

She grinned. "There's the real Shiro-chan~!"

Celeste manoeuvred her hands under her and pushed up. Immediately Accelerator pounced, hands on her shoulder, grappling her back down to the bed. She made a sound of protest.

"No," Accelerator said firmly. "You're injured, and you nearly died. You're _not_ getting out of bed."

Celeste blinked, then asked innocently, "Join me?"

His eyes widened, then he forced the perverted images out of his mind. His hormones chose _now_ to hit?

He sighed and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Sleep."

But Celeste pouted. "Not tired. And you missed."

"Hah?"

She grinned, a hint of her normal mischief shining in her eyes. Her finger moved up to trace her lips. Accelerator's mouth went dry. He visibly battled himself for a moment, then gave in.

"Fine," he huffed.

His lips pressed softly to hers before pulling away. His face was bright red.

"Happy?" He demanded.

The grin she gave him made his heart turn flip-flops. "Very!"

 _"… So why do I feel this way?"_

* * *

A/N: Hospital room number 4696. Hehe. He.

One chapter left!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Finally the end! I'll miss the story. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much I liked writing it!

 _"_ _I'll do anything to make you happy."_

"Are you alright?" Aleister asked, concerned.

"Fine. I'll probably have a scar or two, but I'm fine."

"I'm glad," Aleister said with a small smile.

Celeste hesitated for a second, then with a mischievous smile, asked, "That I'm alive, or that they're dead and unable to attack you?"

"Cel…" Aleister said in a warning tone. Then his eyes softened. "If they killed you I will hunt them down to the ends of the earth, and kill every last one of their bloodline."

Celeste froze for a second, shocked. Whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't that. After all, he had once told her to her face that he had never really cared about his heirs.

But it didn't make her unhappy to know he cared, that he genuinely cared about her.

Aleister paused for a moment, head cocked. "Cel, you're my heir."

Even though it wasn't a question, she answered, "Yes."

"Good," Aleister smiled. "Then please go outside and tell your boyfriend to stop throwing buildings at me."

"I am next to Accelerator," Celeste whispered.

An amused Celeste appeared next to the white-haired esper, to find a line of disaster leading up to the Windowless Building. As Aleister said, the boy had thrown a building directly towards the former magician, and was now panting with a mixture of anger and exertion.

From yelling, of course. Accelerator wouldn't get tired just from throwing a building.

"Shiro-chan, a message. I quote, 'please stop throwing buildings at me' unquote," she said, causing the boy to jump slightly.

"Tell that bastard I can throw as many buildings as I want to at him, and that until he stops causing the people I care about to get hurt, I will keep throwing buildings at him until Academy City no longer has any buildings to throw!" He growled back.

"And that message reached Aleister Crowley," Celeste murmured, a small smile on her face. She just knew Aleister was laughing right then. "So? If you're done destroying property, can we go on that date you promised?"

"Tch, kusotare," he muttered, but grabbed her hand and tugged her along.

"By the way, where's Last Order?" Celeste asked.

"With the two annoying women. Unless you really want that brat as a third wheel?" Accelerator asked sarcastically.

She lit up. "So I have you all to myself?"

"Tch." He turned his head. If he saw that smile she would see his blush for sure.

"Is there anything you wanna do?" Celeste asked, twining her fingers with his.

He stared blankly at her. Did he look like someone who went and played somewhere? The most fun he had was killing people who pissed him off, and even then he had a voice in the back of his mind telling him he didn't want to hurt anyone. A small voice, mind you, but a voice all the same.

Besides, having her hand linked with his pretty much erased all his ability to think properly.

She thought for a moment before her face lit up. "Ne, Shiro-chan, have you ever been to the arcade?"

Minutes later had the new couple fighting against each other, looks of extreme concentration on their faces.

They were focused on the game, so much so that they didn't notice the frightened looks the espers sent Accelerator.

"YES!"

"Ugh…"

YOU WIN and YOU LOSE flashed on the screens.

"Rematch," Accelerator demanded.

"DDR?" Celeste asked innocently.

Accelerator raised an eyebrow, then followed her finger to the game, and immediately deadpanned, "No."

He wasn't going to make a fool of himself trying to _dance_ of all things.

But somehow he found himself stumbling over the steps because she had _taken his hand_ and dragged him over.

Within ten seconds, he gave up and watched her instead. He had to admit, she was pretty good. Her hips twisted as her feet moved, hitting the pads at the right moments, the girl completely lost in the beat. Accelerator smirked. He had no idea how a girl like _that_ had fallen for him, especially when there were so many nice and handsome and _non-psychotic_ males out there, but he really didn't mind. She gave him a fleeting glance, noticing that he had stopped long ago.

"Done already? You have no stamina, _Shiro-chan_ ," she taunted when the song ended.

"Shut up," but there was no venom in his voice.

They played for the entire afternoon, forgetting to eat lunch. And the sky had turned orange before they noticed that their stomachs were begging for food.

"Ah, my stomach probably thinks my head was cut off," Celeste said.

Accelerator gave her a weird look. Where did she come up with lines like this?

"Let's go," he said simply.

Their hands were linked as they walked, trying to find some place decent to eat.

"Oh my _gekota_. Is that _Accelerator_?!" A certain electricity user gaped.

"EH? The number one esper? Where?" Uiharu asked, looking around with a large smile. Then she saw him. They all saw him.

"EEEH?!"

Accelerator walked a little faster, catching sight of the gaping Misaka Mikoto and her friends. They were staring at him as if he had grown another head. Or more specifically, they were staring at his hand linked with Titania's.

"Waitwaitwait. So the rumors were _true_?" Saten Ruiko asked, going onto her cellphone immediately, and reading off the webpage, "Accelerator and Titania _Dating_!"

"How? Why? Huh?" Misaka managed to say.

Those two did _not_ match.

"Onee-sama, why don't we do the same and show the world our love~!"

"Like hell!" Misaka shouted and electrified her roommate and friend.

Celeste laughed, having watched the comedy from the corner of her eye. Accelerator's grip tightened. As much as he liked her laugh, he didn't enjoy being a spectacle. Especially not one where he looked like he had a weakness.

Because he didn't. Not at all.

But apparently some idiots thought he did.

"Lookie here. The great Accelerator-sama has a girlfriend," a man sneered.

"Kusotare," Accelerator growled, hand tightening around hers.

"How much did you pay her?" Another laughed. "Or rather, what did you threaten her with?"

Accelerator snarled. Did they just call her a _whore_?

Celeste scowled. Did they just imply that Accelerator couldn't get a girlfriend without using incentives?

Then she smiled very, very sweetly. "I'm dating him because I want to. That's more than what I could say for you. The only woman that could ever love any of you are your mothers. Or should I say _women_ since you're probably fucking each other's mothers?"

The men looked shocked, then their faces turned an interesting shade of purple out of rage. "You damned bit—"

"Finish that word and I'll finish you," Accelerator snapped.

"Try it. I have your girlfriend hostage, and if you don't want me to cut her pretty throat—" A fifth man smirked, suddenly flicking open a knife and placing the edge at Celeste's throat.

"Really? Because you're not holding anything," Celeste smirked.

"What are you—" Then he yelped, noticing that nothing was in his hands.

"Besides, _none of you are wearing shirts or pants_ , so you should be careful. Or else you'll be arrested for public indecency," Celeste continued. "Shiro-chan, would you like to finish?"

He smirked, holding back sadistic laughter at the men running around like headless chicken, trying to cover up as much of their half-naked bodies as possible. He held out a hand, and the wind slammed them into a wall, effectively knocking them out.

"You know," Celeste remarked over dinner. "We'll have to plan pretty well to have a date that beats this one."

"Hah? What's so great about this one? You had a bunch of guys calling you a whore!" Accelerator scowled at the memory.

"Eh? That's the part you were angry about? They insulted you," Celeste said incredulously. "Anyways, we got to humiliate them, throw them into jail, and beat them up. Wasn't it fun?"

Accelerator studied her face for a moment, trying to find a lie. He _had_ found it fun, but he hadn't really expected her to. Then he grinned. "I knew I liked you for a reason."

"Anybody home? Jeez, at least lock the door, jan," a woman sighed as she opened the door.

Then she froze. She was torn between a mixture of horror and the urge to squeal like a high school fangirl.

Was that really Accelerator? The feared level five who killed over a 10,000 Misaka clones? _The_ Accelerator who laughed every time he caused a bloodbath? _That_ Accelerator?

Yoshikawa grinned and handed the groceries back to a curious Yomikawa and took out her cellphone, snapping a few pictures for future reference.

And possibly blackmail, of course.

Then she pushed the researcher back with her butt, still preventing the other woman from seeing anything, and shut the door with a soft click.

"What was it?! Misaka Misaka demands!" The small girl reached up from where she stood next to Yomikawa, trying to open the door.

But Yoshikawa puts a hand over the clone's mouth and led the two away.

They left Accelerator on the couch, arms around Celeste, the two asleep and cuddling.

 _"…_ _Don't be an idiot." You just have to stay by my side._


	16. Author's Note

Hi! I was planning on ending Cursed Heir right here, but I enjoy writing the story. So I'm making a sequel. Or rather, since the sequel's title sounds like something belonging in a trilogy, I'll be writing a trilogy, each story with around 15 chapters. I have the basic plot for the next two stories, but nothing really concrete. The updates will probably be slower than in Cursed Heir. But I hope you'll enjoy the series!

Sequel: Blood Heir (1st chapter up)

Book 3: Last Heir (title may be subject to change)


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